


High Card Strips

by hyrude



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Future Fic, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Strip Games, Webcam/Video Chat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 04:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5524886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyrude/pseuds/hyrude
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“House rules?”</i>
</p>
<p><i>With a nod, Hinata readjusted in his seat to make sure he was fully visible and his webcam hadn't pixelated. “High card strips,” he affirmed, already buzzing with excitement. “And no, as we go over every week, Ryuu, shoes do </i>not<i> count."</i></p>
<p>Hinata's a third year in high school and Tanaka's a first year in college. They make it work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	High Card Strips

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ImWithEnjolras](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImWithEnjolras/gifts).



“C'mon, Shou, pick up the pace! I’m stealing this wi-fi from the next dorm over and I can make no guarantees as to how long it’ll last,” Tanaka bemoaned, squinting at the darkness of his screen as if he could somehow distinguish Hinata from the rest of the unlit room.

Hinata’s giggle through the speaker was a little on the tinny side as he finally made his way into the shot and settled in front of his monitor, a deck of cards in one hand. “Alright already, I’m here!”

The streaming video on Tanaka’s end adjusted focus as Hinata turned on a desk lamp, illuminating a devious (albeit slightly grainy) grin on his face. Tanaka felt a matching smile grace his own features as he took in the sight of his boyfriend. It may have only been a few days since their last online video call, but Tanaka still looked at Hinata with as much adoration and awe as he would’ve had he been waiting a decade. Something about long distance seemed to make each and every encounter that much sweeter. The low resolution and occasional buffering did nothing to dampen the way his heart clenched upon hearing Hinata’s laugh again.

“You have your deck, Ryuu?” Hinata prompted, amused as ever at Tanaka’s stunned silence. As much as he might tease Tanaka for all his mush, Hinata would never object to being gazed at like a perpetual blessing. The two of them really were too romantic for their own good.

Tanaka shook from his reverie quickly, only a little embarrassed. “Of course!” He held a deck of his own, which was much more worn and tattered by comparison. All the tears and wrinkles on the edges had led Hinata accusing him of cheating more than once. “House rules?”

With a nod, Hinata readjusted in his seat to make sure he was fully visible and his webcam hadn't pixelated. “High card strips,” he affirmed, already buzzing with excitement. “And no, as we go over every week, Ryuu, shoes do _not_ cou-"

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Tanaka waved a hand. “I’ll win even without em. You can have the first count.”

“Good, enough stalling! The closest thing to a gorgeous naked man I’ve seen in the past week was a first year alternate that misread the shower schedule.”

Tanaka gave a faux-scandalized gasp. “Should I be jealous?”

Hinata let out another one of his high, genuine laughs that Tanaka loves so much, this time tinged with breathy impatience. “Yeah," he deadpanned. "I’m gonna leave my hot university boyfriend for a pimply 5'3” freshman with limited understanding of personal hygiene.“

"I knew it!”

“Oh my god, shut up! I thought you were the impatient one just a second ago!” Tanaka watched Hinata reach up to readjust his camera once again after having knocked it askew when he threw his hands up. “I’m counting now, so get ready.”

Tanaka sat back and slipped a thumb under the top card of the deck as the countdown began.

“3… 2…” Both of them lifted their top cards straight up and faced the backs toward the camera. Hinata bit his lip as his eyes darted down to examine his own, then locked back on with the camera’s.

“That’s the face of a guy with a high card if I ever saw one,” Tanaka taunted, ignoring his own.

Hinata huffed. “Oh yeah? And what did you get?”

“Wouldn’t you know it, I'm starting strong with a 3!”

“Liar!” Hinata called out, using the hand not holding his card to point in accusation. “You're never that lucky. _One,_  now show your card.”

Tanaka turned his around a little reluctantly to reveal a jack, earning an excited laugh from Hinata.

“Hah, read 'em and weep!” he cheered as he flipped over his own, making sure Tanaka could clearly see the number 5 before dropping the card and propping his chin on his folded hands, eyebrows raised expectantly.

Sighing at the early loss, Tanaka pushed back from his desk to give himself room to maneuver and bent over until his head had disappeared from Hinata’s view entirely. His shoulders moved as if he were untying something just out of shot.

“What are you… Hey, _no,_ Ryuu, shoes do _NOT_ count, you cheater!”

Tanaka laughed good-naturedly at his boyfriend’s indignation, but straightened up to play by the rules this time. He locked eyes with the image of Hinata before him as he pulled the neck of his shirt up over his head.

“Hey, no rush, Ryuu. Make it a show,” Hinata half-joked, sounding like he wanted to seem unimpressed despite his eyes being unabashedly glued to the growing sliver of Tanaka’s torso being exposed. Tanaka chuckled out a wordless response, then tossed aside his shirt and returned to his desk. Hinata's eyes remained trained on his chest.

Another card was drawn and held up in preparation for round two before Tanaka realized Hinata was still too busy staring to move. "Uh oh, I think your cam might've frozen. Earth to Shouyou..." Tanaka said with a fond laugh at Hinata's expense. 

Hinata blinked. "Sorry, were you saying something? I was distracted by something."

"Hey, how dare you make me feel cheap!"

Shooting a half-hearted glare his way, Hinata finally moved to lift the next card from his deck. "Can you blame me? It's not every day I get to admire my stud of a boyfriend. I can barely even remember how many abs you have, it's been so long. 5? 10?" He tapped his cheek in contemplation. "My memory is so hazy... Maybe you should stand up again and let me count."

Tanaka barked out another laugh. "We played just last week!"

Hinata shifted in his seat once again, and accidentally caught a glance at his own card with the readjustment. He grinned to himself, suddenly much more motivated to continue. "Enough loser talk! Gimme the goods."

"What, did you see your card? Is it low? That's totally cheating!" Tanaka called out from his end, indignant. "We need to introduce a penalty for rule breakers. I suggest double stripping. No, triple stripping. Stripple it... Tripping? There's a joke there."

He rolled his eyes in response and waggled his card more insistently. "There's no joke and I'm not gonna wait for you to find it. Take off your pants already!"

"Pushy! I haven't even shown my card yet." Tanaka stroked his bare chin with a faraway look in his eyes, contemplative, though anyone short of Hinata or Nishinoya would be inclined to think he wasn't as much filled with wisdom as he was bullshit. "How do I know you're not bluffing?"

The card was turned around at once to reveal a 2 of hearts, clear as day. 

"Fuck." 

At this point, the evil content of Hinata's laugh seemed to be varying inversely with the number of clothes Tanaka was wearing.

"The goods! The goods! The goods!" Hinata chanted as Tanaka stood up, getting yet more enthusiastic when he noticed that Tanaka was wearing only boxers. 

"I feel like the chanting might not actually be enough. Maybe you should serenade me instead?" he suggested with a sly smile as he hooked both thumbs under his waistband.

Hinata hummed and mimicked the chin-stroking Tanaka had done earlier. "That's a good idea. I think the meaty-meat song would be better suited for the circumstances," he mused, voice absolutely devious. Tanaka promptly choked on his own spit and frantically begged to redact his previous statement.

Finally, Tanaka steeled himself and swept the boxers from his sharp hipbones in one smooth motion, trying and failing to keep a light blush from rising to his cheeks despite the distance and ridiculousness of the situation. After a moment, he reclaimed his seat, ears tinted red and more jittery than ever. No matter how many times they did this, he'd never stop psyching himself out. 

When he finally glanced back up to the screen, he saw his boyfriend smiling softly, not a hint of the earlier teasing on his face. He seemed to be flushed as well, but that was probably just the tint from the shitty webcam and bad lighting. Definitely. Tanaka studied every detail of his face like an artist studies a scene for a still life, committing each maybe-freckle-maybe-dead-pixel to memory.

"I love you so much, Ryuu," Hinata said after the silence had stretched on just long enough to be comfortable, and with a sincerity that made Tanaka want to check his pulse. "You know that, right?"

His entire body felt impossibly hot. "Shou, you're just saying that because you already won and you didn't even have to strip," he mumbled petulantly, but he didn't bother to suppress the goofy smile that sprung up at his boyfriend's words.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Hinata agreed, but even through the graininess of the webcam, his expression was warm and bright and his eyes held the same intensity they did when he vowed to take Karasuno to the very top. Tanaka's chest clenched at the thought that Hinata could somehow be as passionate about him as he was about volleyball. 

"But if that were true," Hinata continued, fingers now slipping under his own shirt to pull it over his head and toss it aside. "I don't think I'd be as interested in a bonus round."

**Author's Note:**

> what kind of person only wears 2 things to a strip card game smh
> 
> a gift for ImWithEnjolras for the HQ Winter Holidays exchange!!! i was a pinch hitter, so i didn't get assigned the prompts until a little later on, and unfortunately that means i didn't quite finish the chaptered tananoya fill i had planned. it is on its way, though, i swear!!! i had a lot of fun writing this, especially since it was my first hq fic and i got to age them up and think about how they'd have matured after a couple years of dating. fingers crossed that i did them justice!! thanks for the prompts, too. you're right: tanaka never gets enough love, and i am gonna remedy that the best that i can. >B)
> 
> i really hope you enjoyed, and happy holidays!!
> 
> (i'm [tobioapologist](tobioapologist.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if anyone wants to come say hi!)


End file.
